Photography: 10 Things Not To Do

Becoming a better photographer doesn’t happen overnight! It’s something that takes time and lots of practice! Today I’m here to share with you 10 things not to do. Kelli and I created this list based on mistakes we first made when we first started photographing. These are 10 common mistakes that you don’t want to make. Enjoy!

1. Use Auto Flash ALL The Time Oh no no no no. This is a common mistake that is so easy to fix! Just turn off your automatic flash. See how in the above examples the auto flash makes the photo look flat and washed out, don’t let this happen to your photos! Natural light is lovely, so take advantage of it!

2. Ignore Your Color Story and Composition How many times have you seen a photo with a super distracting background? The above example is a little extreme, but always be sure to choose backgrounds that compliment the people or objects in your photos! Choose a color that makes your color story stronger, not more busy.

3. Plan To Crop Everything Later Kelli told me over and over that she never has to crop a photo in photoshop because she always composes photos exactly how she wants them through the viewfinder. I love this challenge! When you compose a photo how you want it, you will get the best point of focus and a stronger image than if you crop everything later.

4. Pose In Direct Sunlight This is something you should never do, if you can avoid it! Unless, of course you want a photo that looks something like this…

5. Ignore The Details… They’re Not Important It’s easy to forget to snap photos of little details in our day to day lives. Below is a collage of some of my favorite small moments over the past few years. Don’t ignore the details! Be intentional about capturing them on camera. They might just turn out to be some of your favorite memories.

6. Copy Someone Else….Exactly A lot of young photographers make the mistake of being “too inspired” by another photographer. Sometimes people don’t even mean to “copy” but it doesn’t make it ok. Copying someone you admire is awkward for you and for them… it’s just no good. It’s ok to be inspired by other people, but don’t use their exact ideas and compositions! Create something fresh and beautiful that you can be proud to call your own.

7. Post Every Photo You Took Today Have you ever seen someone upload every single photo from their holiday on Facebook? It kinda feels like they didn’t take the time to go through and pick the best ones. Don’t do this. Posting too many repeat photos takes attention away from your best photos. Take the time to choose your favorite photos before you hit the upload button!

8. Take Photos Exclusively At Night I used to be one of those people who took ALL my DIY photos at night because I just didn’t have time to do it during the day. See the above example for what a huge difference some natural light can make. Both photos were taken without the flash on auto settings. There will, of course, always be instances where night photos are necessary- like a party or event. These days, if I have a choice I will ALWAYS take my blog photos during the daylight. Even if it means I have to wake up an hour earlier or rearrange my schedule it’s very worth it!

9. Stick With What You Know Don’t forget to branch out. As a photographer I always go through phases where I learn a new skill and then use it a whole lot. Sometimes I get in a rut where I don’t try new things for a long time. I think it’s important to never stop learning. I do better work when I’m actively learning new things and challenging myself. What about you?

10. Post Your Photos To Facebook & Never Look Back One of the saddest things about living in the digital age is that many people no longer print out their memories! For the first few years of my dating relationship with Jeremy I made this very mistake. I realized that I was posting photos online, but not doing anything else with them. Since we’ve been married I’ve been making an effort to print photos out, order albums and frame photos in our home. I love this habit. It’s healthy and makes me more thankful for each and every memory when I see the photos. If you’re not in the habit of printing photos, order some today! I promise you’ll be happy you did.

Thanks for reading! I’ve had so much fun teaching photography lately! Thank you for all your kind comments. It’s fun to hear that some of you are super excited about photographing your life too!

Keep in Touch!

235 Comments

I love these tips! Number ten is definitely my favorite, though. You’re totally right; it’s too easy these days to take beautiful pictures and never do anything with them. Your blog has certainly given me a lot of wonderful ideas for how to make use of my prints!

Great post! I actually just had prints made the other day, and it was such a great feeling to look through them.

When I first got my digital SLR, I shot everything in auto, with the flash on. Many of my first pictures were just… bad. Just plain bad. Did you find it hard at first to shoot little detail moments with your SLR? I feel so conspicuous, so I usually end up shooting with my phone again, and the quality is pretty sorely lacking (2mp iPhone 3G). Do you have any tips for that?

great advice! I try to follow most of these rules pretty strictly on my blog but I can totally see myself getting repetitive with my outfit posts. I will have to switch it up somehow. Also, I totally never print out my photos, boo! I just got my wedding pics so I think it is time to start ordering albums and such. Thanks Elsie!

Great tips for a beginning photographer. So much of a beginner that usually feel that I have no idea what I’m doing and end up taking a zillion photos for just one good one. Lighting is the trickiest especially for product shots… It’s all about practice and learning new tips like these. =) Thanks!

I have really enjoyed this series and am recording some new tips I have not tried before. Your last tip really struck a cord with me as I have no photos of my boyfriend (of 5 yrs!) and I in our home, except on my blog or facebook. I am definitely going to order some prints and make a blurb book for our anniversary.

Its been great to getting advice from a blogger and awesome photographer I really admire! Thanks Elsie and Kelli!

I really like this article. I have been reading your blog a lot lately and it has inspired me to want to take up photography again. I always liked it, but could never afford a good camera. I still can’t afford one, but I am not going to let that stop me. Nowadays, we have phones with great cameras! Thanks for the inspiration!

I really like your article. I have been reading your blog a lot lately and it has inspired me to want to take up photography again! I could never afford a good camera, which is why I gave up on the idea before. But with today’s technology, my phone has a pretty good camera, so I am not going to give up on it this time! Thanks for the inspiration! You should check out my blog. I would love to get your input!

What simple, yet great tips! I love the tip for printing out photos. Coincidentally, I was flipping through some old photos albums (albums that were made when Facebook wasn’t around) and thought, “why don’t I do this anymore?” It’s a sad fact that everything is digital now but a motivator to start making photo albums and scrapbooking again 🙂

I loved this post! Actually, I’ve loved all the previous post with photography tips, but I think that talking about what NOT to do is so important, especially for beginners like myself! Some of these are things we wouldn’t even think about at the start, until we get the pictures on the computer, only to see they’re not what we expected and can’t figure out what went wrong.

I think that these are great tips for anyone who’s using a camera, no matter how often. 🙂

Hi Elsie, I have a question I read your photography post on sun flare and I tried it yesterday at the golden hour, I place my subject in front of the sun and the picture turned out where my subject was too dark and you couldn’t see the sun at all it didn’t even look like there was sun behind him, could you tell me maybe what I did wrong, I tried it with the flash on then off then I went through all the settings I tried standing in different angles etc. nothing they were all dark ugh so disappointed any tweaks you think I need to make would help! Thanks!

I’m a sophomore in high school and one of the courses I’m taking right now is Photography. Using film and all…no digital! I prefer digital, but it’s always fun to see my negatives come out once I’ve labored away developing them. Same with the prints! after choosing settings, burning and dodging, etc in the dark room, I love seeing the final result. People take for granted the digital pictures (I did, too) til I started taking the Photography class! We also take digital pictures though, and I can really see the parallels from what I’ve learned in school and what you’ve been posting about. You really know your stuff and my teacher has been impressed after I’ve followed your tips! Sorry for the wordy post, but you deserve a proper thank you for all of the photographing tips you’ve been posting lately! They mean a lot to some of us! <333
Roryhttp://www.WearAboutsBlog.comhttp://www.chictopia.com/WearAbouts

I love these tips! Not using autoflash has been one of the best photography decisions I have ever made. I want to keep challenging myself to produce the best images possible for my blog, and your posts inspire me to stay on the right track!

I love when you post about photography because I am trying to learn myself. I just got a DSLR camera for my birthday and I am trying, one day at a time, to figure it out. All of the fun things I can do with it. I love reading your tips.

Excellent advice and reminders. Since I don’t use an SLR, if you have any other tips for point and shoots that would be great. (Most of the above I can use with my PS, but I’d love more advice for getting great shots from a PS).

What good timing this post had! I just picked up photography as a hobby this very afternoon for the first time in 6 years and lo and behold, upon checking in with the blogs I follow, you’d written this article. It felt like a sign. 🙂

that’s hilarious! for a party event, someone told me to turn the flash on and i did an example for them & showed them.. it was so unflattering… now my brother jokes around w/ me about it. i never put flash on.. i think i’ve done it maybe a handful of times since i owned my dslr. just for test shots, nothing to keep though. just to reassure myself how unflattering it is.

Such a lovely post Elsie. I’ve already learned so much from you, reading your blog everyday and everyday I get to learn more! You have some really excellent tips in this post.
Thank you for sharing!
xxhttp://www.thrifted.ca

Great tips Elsie! My New Years resolution this year is to print my photos! Otherwise, we’ll never have photo albums for our kids and grandkids to look at in the future (I use to always go through my parent’s photo albums- still do!)

I’ve been a reader for a good while now and I have to say this segment about photography has been one of my all time favorites! I never realized how important certain aspects can be, until I tried it. Thank you so much! I’m truly looking forward to reading more of your photography tips.

Else, I love your blog, I read it every single day!! You have always very nice topics and tips to write about! That’s so cool! I want to have a blog as yours one day…I hope can be good as u!! Kisses from Brazil! xxxx

thanks for these pointers. alot of my friends don’t “get” the flash thing or that i only photograph during the day…they kindof make fun, BUT, i’m really picky about what goes up on the blog.
oh and the facebook pics…i chuckled.
you are SO RIGHT.

I just bought a new camera last month and I’ve been carrying it everywhere and taking so many photos. These photography articles have been super helpful to me as a new photographer! Thanks so much for sharing this!!!

Haa I’m guilty of so many of these things, based solely on sheer laziness. I’m at best a complete newbie when it comes to photography, and it doesn’t help that I’m usually extremely busy with school during the day. I finally spent last Sunday cranking out some recipes, and the natural light (of course) made all the difference. The light in my kitchen is horrible, so I should really heed Tip #8.

Thank you so much for all your tips. I read a post that you did about how you have different locations scouted for backdrops to use for your outfits of the day. I’m the administrator for my stores facebook page and after I read your post I thought “Well there is a really cool wall out side and we have tons of layered colored decals on the walls that I can use as backdrops.” My pics turned out fantastic!! I even print them out now and put them on the product so our customers can see how it looks on an actual person. Thanks so much. If you have time check us out on instagram username: old_navy_hanford. Thank you again for all the inspiration.

These are such awesome tips!
One of my all time pet peeves is people posting ALL their photos on facebook!
I also really want to start printing off my photos, I really need to make the time to sort that out!
Thanks for such awesome tips! 🙂

thanks for the tips! they are really helpful! I really have to start focusing on the details. i love those kind of photos but it seems that i don’t have the “eye” to find myself the details. And i really need to start printing some photos. you are right, we take photos and we keep them “locked” in our computers! kisses from greece

As a beginner photographer and someone who is currently travelling I soak up any photography tips or inspiration like a sponge. These “don’t do” tips are worthy reminders that we learn from our mistakes!

These are sooo good, thanks so much for the advice. I’ve been noticing the difference with no. 7 as a lot of my family do that, and they think I’m soo lucky to get such good shots – really I take as many as them but i pick out the best one and when not surrounded by other similar photos it looks 10 times better than it would have!

Thank you for this post!! I have recently developed an obsession with daytime “auto flash off” shots and although sometimes it takes a series of photos to get a good non-fuzzy one it is totally worth it in the end! Favourite is #10. Love having favourite pics pinned up EVERYWHERE!
xx

Oh how I love printing photos out and taking them out from the old suitcase I keep them in, on rainy days for some sweet nostalgic moments in the company of some lavender tea or red vine 🙂 The fireplace is still missing from this “picture” though, but it is on my list :))

Great post, Elsie! 🙂 I really love your tips because they are really helpful especially to new bloggers just like me. 🙂 I love that you discuss thoroughly your points which make them easier for us to understand!

Amazing post! These tips are SUPER-helpful, and as a new blogger and blog-photographer of sorts (?), I think I’ve made quite a few of these mistakes over the past year…but no longer! And thanks for the examples–they do a GREAT job of illustrating what you’re talking about 🙂

Thank you for the advice. Years ago you posted photography tips, and to this day I do not use my flash. It is always off and I look for natural light always. These tips are priceless and they have saved me tons of money because I take my own portraits of family.

Thanks for the great advice! I love the idea of printing down photos and making albums. We have some great pictures of my older daughter (because we lived out of the country when she was born and sent them home to family a lot) but not so many of my youngest. I’m going to plan to make them each an album 😉

Thank you SO much for all your wonderful photography tips. I’m just an amateur with a DSLR but I’ve learned so much through awesome sites like yours over the past year, I feel like I’m starting to actually know I think or two about what I’m doing (and I finally stopped shooting on Auto all the time!).
When I started my blog, I especially loved your self-portrait tips, as my hubs doesn’t get home before dark so I have to get out and take my own outfit pics if I want to. Thanks a ton for sharing your wealth of knowledge 🙂

Hi Elsie, love your photography posts!!! this one and the one about the self portrait are amazing!!! I always fight with people I know about the flash, my husband is a photographer and only they can get it right, it should really say: use carefully!!!.
I would like to hear your input on posing and editing… I love taking pictures of people around me and I find it best to “rob” their moments and portray them without them knowing. Everytime I ask them to smile, the pictures just not look the same, so I became like a reporter/paparazzi, family and friend style.
Because of that, I have so many pictures that editing it’s hard!!!
Thanks again!

Great tips. I know these already, but my stumbling block is that I generally need someone to prompt me to try taking photos using this feature/not using that feature on my camera. There’s a project in there somewhere…!

GREAT tips! i learned a lot of these the hard way, but there were still some i hadn’t thought of (like choosing my background to enhance my color story – brilliant!). thanks so much for sharing these, elsie.

Great tips! I hate flash, don’t see the point of using it during the day. Unfortunately, all my photos are dark since the only time that it’s light outside is when I’m at work 🙁 Bring on the summer! xx

What a great and super helpful post. I will inplement this tips right away. I’m constantly learning so much from your blog and now from the e-course on blogging that i recently purchased. I’m so loving that e-course,I can’t rave enough about it. I’ve seen a difference already in my way of thinkikng and I did some changes to my blog. You’re so talented Elsie.

I would love it if you could visit my blog when you get a chance and tell what you think.

I’m 14 and I absolutely love photography. It’s one of my favourite interests. I love trying out new ways of taking photos and I like to take pictures of places, events, people I love and of things that are intersting and exciting.

I like to blog about recipes, sewing/craft tutorials, photoshoots, inspiration, beauty etc on my blog and I love taking photos of them. I will never be tired of photography.

I love the ideas they are amazing! I am following you and pinterest and instagram! I absolutely love your photos but i was wondering. I have all these amazing pictures that I took on my iphone using instagram. Do you know any places i can print the square pictures out? Thanks so much:) I love your blog!

I love your point 9. I have been stuck in this for a while now. As a hobbyist in photography, we do learn few things and practice them.

The few problems we encounter though, is that we loved that particular technique (especially when it works every time) that we simply stopped learning more. We could always “put it in the bag” with what we’ve learned and learn new stuff…but then, we are also in fear of loosing what we’ve learned because we don’t go out shooting that much.

Resources (limitation): I am into strobes based photography these days. I only have 2 umbrellas and of course 2 flashes to work with. Most of us are working full time and in saying that buying new things hurts our pocket. That too is my case and as such, am working off these two equipment.

But in your point 9. I tend to really stick with what I know (on stuff that works every time) because it works…but that can be a downfall on it’s own…

So nice all yours recommendations. I’m a amateur photographer but always I’m looking for new tips. By the way, I’m from a Latin American country and here my friends and I love this page and your tutorials.
Thanks for remind me that I need to print out more pictures haha.

Thank you so much for all of the posts you do about photography. I LOVE photography and would like this to be a job for me. But just starting out I feel SOOO overwhelmed and not good enough to make it in the business. Your posts help me to break things down slowly and not feel as overwhelmed about it! Thank you! looove this website. you gals are great! 🙂

What a helpful post! I too NEVER use flash, it makes suck yucky photos…I really like the advice about making time to take pictures in the daytime. It’s hard for me to find time around work/kid/commuting, but that is definitely something i could become better at doing. 🙂

Thanks so much for the tips! I’m finding as my photography gets better, where I get them printed matters so much more. There’s a reason drugstores and bigbox stores only charge 15 cents for a print! Do you have any advice for where to buy prints that look great and are reasonably priced?

These are great tips – thank you for sharing your experience! I love playing with my camera and when you post something I haven’t tried yet I make an effort to try it out. Its a fun learning experience for me 🙂

You are such an inspiration! Right now every time i take a picture i always remember when you said “there are no wasted photos”. Its always something for someone. Now i understand! Im striving to learn more. Thank you so much for all your tips! 🙂

So, first of I have to say that I love your blog! I visit it several times a day every day. And I especially love your photograph-tutorials, and actually everything post that gets posted here.

But I was really wondering if you had any tips on taking promotion and commercial photos for clothing stores, because I’ve got a school project where I am going to make a store, with the logo, name, idea and make commercial and promotion for it. Was just wondering if you had any tips or something? 
Love, Elise

I’m a young photographer who is trying to get started. I absolutely love taking pictures and I always am. I get a newer and better camera for Christmas each year. I’m still not very good though. These are really helpful things. Thanks so much!
Much love,
Photography Lover 13

Hi Elsie,
I am a brand new reader to your blog and I love it! Great practical info and beautiful blog design, especially the photography!
I am wondering if you could tell me how you printed the pics in tip 10 in the bottom left hand corner (square prints with great borders). I love it and would like to print some of mine in a similar fashion.
Thanks kindly! 🙂

so many great tips to meditate on and YES admittedly I have been making quite a few of these mistakes!!!! A big one for me was coming up with my own creative inspiration for a photo or shoot and I guess I was always comparing myself to the photographers I admired and now I realise that I was just dumping my own style. You have made me realise just how important it is to be ouselves when we take our photographs. Thank you!!

I love all those tips! it’s always so helpful when they come from someone who knows what they’re doing(: but can i just say that the photo of you and emma in direct sunlight is adorable? your faces are priceless(;

Thank you for these great pointers, I’ve just gotten myself a new camera and really want to play around with it! I’m also going to order those photos! I have a house full of empty frames much to the amusement of my friends when they visit! x

Ur blog is sooooooooooo helpful, I’ll def be reading this religiously ^_^ (especially ur photog and fashion posts). LOVE! Am now following 🙂
Would love it if you checked out my blog and followed, I’d be honored! 🙂http://lavintagefemme.blogspot.com/